𝐂𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐎𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓𝐘 𝐉𝐀𝐈𝐋 𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐅𝐎𝐑 $𝟏𝟎𝟎 𝐏𝐄𝐑 𝐃𝐀𝐘

 

The City of Starbase, adjacent to once-pristine Boca Chica Beach, has entered into an agreement with the Cameron County Sheriff's Department for anyone arrested in the SpaceX company town to be housed in the county jail.  Starbase will, in turn, pay the county $100 per day for every arrestee so housed.  

Just last week, Cameron County Sheriff's deputies were authorized to make arrests in Starbase, so now they have a revenue incentive for making those arrests and, under the deal, if no one is arrested, Starbase pays zero.

Of course, the establishment of Starbase itself was Elon Musk’s vision to create a dedicated city for his SpaceX operations near the beach. Musk began buying up land in the area over a decade ago to support SpaceX’s launch site. By 2021, he floated the idea of incorporating the community into its own city. That idea became reality after a petition process and a special election in May 2025, in which residents, mostly SpaceX employees, voted overwhelmingly to incorporate the new city. 

Starbase has a mayor and commissioners closely affiliated with SpaceX, controlling local services, utilities, and zoning laws.